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Thursday, November 26, 2015

More NWA on the Network, top NXT name advertised for main roster tour, Rollins update, NXT DVD to include dark match featuring C.M. Punk, more on WWEPC shooting incident, WWE release, NXT name arrested, TNA postpones India tour, TNA World Title tournament brackets set, and Questions on how to use Cena going forward, Sheamus at Survivor Series, "Bully Ray" in WWE, and pushing Reigns

WWE is regularly adding episodes from Jim Crockett Promotions' weekly TV series to the Network. These shows come from around the time of WrestleMania I through III. I imagine it took longer to digitize those old master tapes. The amount of content they have available to upload is astonishing.

Sami Zayn is advertised for next month's UK tour with the main roster. Whether he'll be wrestling remains to be seen. I really hope he's in the Rumble in 2016. It's time for him to make that next step once he recovers.

Seth Rollins has begun physical therapy following his surgery. I'm rooting for him to return and do great things in 2016.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

The upcoming NXT Greatest Matches Vol. 1 DVD will include a previously unreleased bout featuring Kassius Ohno and Cesaro vs. C.M. Punk and Rollins. I'm very pleasantly surprised that match will see the light of day.

The man shot outside of the WWE Performance Center gave his side of the story. This man needs some serious help.

WWE has released Brad Maddox, who had just made his return to WWE TV on Main Event recently. He worked a dark match at the most recent Smackdown taping, losing to R-Truth. Considering they had barely done anything with him in quite some time and didn't seem to have any other plans for him, this was probably the right move.

Update: Maddox was released due to language he used in a promo before the match with R-Truth. He cursed before the match on Main Event last week, so this wasn't an isolated thing. I wouldn't be surprised if that was just the straw that broke the camel's back, given how little they used him. I hope he does good things wherever he's headed after WWE. He showed potential as a character while he was in WWE, so maybe we'll see that develop elsewhere.

Former NXT Tag Team Champion Blake was arrested for DUI back around July 4. That's really disappointing behavior. I hope he learned from what happened here.

TNA has postponed their tour for India that was scheduled for next month. They'll try to do it in 2016 instead. If I had to guess, the new tapings in Bethlehem threw everything off. Another setback for a company that has had a number of scheduled dates dropped in recent months.

Update: The tour was said to be rescheduled due to safety issues. TNA staff was set to fly to Paris as a layover flight to India. Obviously Paris is a place people are weary of traveling to right now.

Update: Talents are scrambling to get new bookings after clearing their schedules in order to work the TNA dates. It makes you wonder how many people are considering not re-signing.

Update: TNA was set to tape several One Night Only PPVs as well as material for Impact Wrestling. They'll probably tape things in Bethlehem to replace what was going to be taped for those shows.

Here are the brackets for TNA's World Title Tournament:
- Ethan Carter III vs. DJ Z
- Bram vs. Davey Richards
- Lashley vs. Drew Galloway
- Mahabli Shera vs. Eli Drake
- Tigre Uno vs. Gail Kim
- Eric Young vs. Kenny King
- Jessie Godderz vs. Awesome Kong
- Bobby Roode vs. Matt Hardy

Things are definitely set to build to EC3 vs. Matt if they want to go that route.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. He was in a reduced role helping out other talent before he left, so I think he'll probably stay in the upper midcard. They're committed to pushing Reigns as their next potential main event star and are going to give that a shot.

2. Perspective is everything. He lost to three men when his partners abandoned him, and won with TWO Brogue Kicks after Reigns survived two matches in one night. Followup is going to be key. If he's presented as a serious main eventer not ducking challenges, it should be fine for most people. But as we see, some people are going to complain about every little thing.

3. I'm guessing they see more money in the Dudley Boys Reunion Tour than rehashing what was done in TNA. To be fair, not nearly as many people watched "Bully Ray" in TNA as are familiar with the Dudleys from the Attitude Era. The Dudleys helping out the tag team division works for me. They can always give him another singles run down the line if things get stale with them as a team. As for him being a top heel, I don't know if WWE would be willing to do that. He's in a much bigger pond than he was in TNA. WWE should see what they have with Sheamus, Rusev, Barrett, etc. before trying to make a main eventer out of someone who debuted for WWE back when it was WWF.

4. It's disputable that Ambrose is more over with the masses and a better top guy than Reigns. I like Ambrose, but Vince is looking at who will get over with the kids and soccer moms, who he can put on late night shows, etc.. Agree or disagree, but that's why Vince prefers Reigns. Vince thinks he's better suited to be the face of the company like Cena was/is.

5. I saw it more as them building up a new top heel in Rollins' absence. This gives them a story to tell of Reigns trying to get revenge on HHH's chosen heels for the next however many months. Vince likely knows there are people who just aren't going to accept Reigns as a top face, but he's betting they're a minority and the larger part of the audience will get behind Roman.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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